Yesterday I mentioned that the South African government had caved to pressure from China and blocked the Dalai Lama from attending a peace conference  there. Fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureates Archbishop Desmund Tutu and FW De Klerk had announced that they would boycott the conference as a result. Organizers of the South African peace conference have now announced that they are canceling the conference because the Pretoria government’s refusal to allow the Dalai Lama to attend. The government is saying the Dalai Lama will not be granted a visa to South Africa prior to the 2010 World Cup.

The continued cowardice of the South African government is disappointing, but at least the organizers of this conference have the courage of their convictions to stand on the right side of history.